A Republican candidate for Colorado governor fell silent when asked about how many people he has killed during his time in the Marine Corps.
Victor Marx is competing in the Republican primary against Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer and Representative Scott Bottoms, with the winner set to become the party’s nominee in the general election.
His campaign is aligned with MAGA priorities, including promises to cut taxes, loosen rules around homebuilding, and take tougher positions on crime and policing.
As part of his bid, Marx sat down for an interview with 9News anchor Kyle Clark to talk through his background and his pitch to voters.
During the discussion, Marx spoke about his childhood. Clark then asked whether there was any part of his life that should be off-limits to public examination, or whether it was all open to scrutiny. Marx replied that “it’s all fair game”.
Clark followed up with a pointed question:
“Your claim that your abusive stepfather forced you to kill a man when you were seven years old, is that the only person you’ve ever killed?”
Marx has made the childhood claim before, though there has been no evidence produced to substantiate the alleged incident.
After Clark asked the question, the conversation paused and the room went quiet for several seconds, with Clark waiting as Marx considered his response.
Marx eventually answered: “I would say, as a child, yes, without question, but I’ve been in other situations where, you know, possibly people – or persons – died as a result of me defending myself in other countries.”
He then added: “There’s no count on that. There’s no photos.”
Clark continued pressing, asking:
“Do you think that you’ve killed people as an adult?”
Marx replied more quickly this time, saying: “Does it matter?”
When Marx asked why it mattered, Clark noted that taking a life is a serious matter, whether it happens in self-defense or in a military context.
Marx responded: “If I did, I wouldn’t be telling a reporter sitting here in my training center,” and when Clark pushed again, Marx added: “I don’t think that’s important, it’s an odd question to me.”
Marx also recently appeared in the first televised debate of the Republican primary, where he told the other candidates he regretted choosing to “step into this race and ruin your next step of being a professional politician”.
The Republican nominee will go on to face the Democratic candidate in Colorado, a state where the GOP has not won a statewide office since 2016.